Review: The Chosen One & Giveaway

Summary: Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated community without questioning the fact that her father has three wives and she has twenty brothers and sisters, with two more on the way. That is, without questioning them much---if you don’t count her secret visits to the Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her meetings with Joshua, the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her.

But when the Prophet decrees that she must marry her sixty-year-old uncle---who already has six wives---Kyra must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family forever. -- St. Martin's Griffin

I can't remember where I first heard about THE CHOSEN ONE by Carol Lynch Williams, but I just knew I had to read it. I have been on a pretty big YA kick lately and am truly loving all the amazing books in this genre. Plus, I admit that the story about a young girl who lives on a polygamist compound does fascinate me -- I am a big fan of the HBO series Big Love. The multitudes of praise for this book are beyond positive. Having said all that, I couldn't wait to read this book; and once I started it, I couldn't put it down -- I actually read it in one sitting. I thought this book was just terrific! I have a feeling that it's going to be one of those books that everyone is talking about.

There are so many terrific things to say about this novel. The storyline is definitely intriguing, and there's a little bit of everything in this book (including lots of action and suspense which I wasn't really expecting.) I am absolutely fascinated by the entire polygamist lifestyle and especially interested in the life these girls and women have on these compounds. As I read this book, I found myself often time shocked; but more than that, I was outraged by their treatment. The abuse, both mental and physical, that the children in this book experienced was horrific.

While I found the story just amazing, I also think I enjoyed this novel so much because of the character of Kyra. She was an amazing choice of narrator for this book, and I loved all of her insights and perceptions about her life. I also liked that Kyra had a love of books (what reader can't relate to that feeling) , and she was passionate enough about her desire to read that she often times sacrificed her well-being just to be able to visit a library and check out a book. In addition, I was just blown away by her inner strength -- she had her own ideas about what was right and she wasn't afraid to share her opinions with authority figures. She knew she was different from her other family members and children on the compound, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how the author portrayed Kyra's internal struggle with this conflict.

I think young girls are going to absolutely love this book. I know I would have been very interested in learning about Kyra's life because it was so totally different than anything I had ever experienced. Even though Kyra's parents, home life, schooling, etc. are very unique to her situation, I think young girls are still going to find themselves relating to her character. While Kyra's problems are hopefully unique to her situation, her feelings and insecurities are common themes to all young women. Many girls will relate to her fear of disappointing of parents and her feelings of not belonging. I also think girls will definitely enjoy the forbidden love angle and the exciting end to the story.

I was also extremely impressed with Ms. Lynch Williams writing. The story captured my attention from the start, and I just couldn't wait to see how Kyra's story ends (although I'm still wondering that myself.) The author did a wonderful job of creating and developing memorable characters, and I thought she captured the thoughts and actions of a young teen girl perfectly. And I absolutely thought Kyra's voice was spot on! I was also impressed with the amount of research that she conducted while writing THE CHOSEN ONE. I would love to read more by this author if this novel is any indication!

As you can clearly see, I highly recommend this book to both teens and adults alike. In fact, I think it would make an excellent book for your next book club meeting. I wish the girls in our Mother-Daughter book club were the target age for this novel because I would be insisting that we all read it and discuss the serious issues in this story. However, it's going to be a few more years until they are ready for this book since they are only nine and ten years old. I was fortunate enough to receive a discussion guide brochure with my ARC copy, but I haven't been able to find the questions yet on-line (as soon as I do, I will set up a link.) There are just so many fascinating topics to discuss in this book including polygamy, family relationships, parent/child relationships, differences between the sexes, physical and mental abuse, etc. I guarantee that you could talk about the characters and their actions for hours.

I know there is a lot of buzz out there for this book, and I'm thrilled to say that I have two ARC copies (courtesy of St. Martin's) to share with two very lucky readers. These ARCs even have a CD sampler from the audio book. For one entry, please leave a comment with your e-mail address telling me why you want to read this book. To double or triple your chances, you can blog or tweet about this contest with a link back to this post. The contest is open until Tuesday, May 26th at 11:59 p.m. I will announce the winners on the following day. This contest is open to those of you with U.S. and Canada mailing addresses only. Good luck!